question facing the obama administration. >> i want to take one for the team and ask a big question. did the president know she was lip syncing and does he care? >> i have not had the discussion with him. i don't know that i understand the variety and contradictory reports on the matter and i would refer you to j-sick or pick. >> jennifer: that refers to the committees that organize the inauguration. bill press did follow up with a more pointed question, and jay carney danced around it and similar questions from other reporters. unfortunately we may never know what happened on that stage with beyonce and whether she lip synced. check us out on line at

current.com/thewarroom website. thanks so you all joining us here in "the war room." >> cenk: welcome to "the young turks." we have a great show ahead for you tonight. secretary of state hillary clinton went up the hill and the republicans were aggressive and hot style. get a look. >> had i been president at the time and i found that you did not read the cables from benghazi, you did not read the cables from ambassador stephens, i would have relieved you of your post. >> cenk: would you? thank you for that recommendation. we'll have michael hastings and lindsay moran to talk about the policies of it and what should have been done in benghazi. and an awesome story with how wall street got away with all their crimes. we'll be on the show with this documentary. >> what if he has no income?

what if he has no assets. he said fund them. >> i'm with countrywide and i got them all approved. >> we'll give them a loan. >> cenk: amazing story. don't miss that. and then different ideas for gun control. we have an unique one in l.a. of course, we'll debunk this. >> there are only two reasons for a federal list on gun owners to either tax them or take them. the only reason. >> cenk: totally not true. and why did the republicans cave on the debt ceiling? the republicans caving? we'll explain why. it's go time. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> cenk: secretary of state hillary clinton went up to the hill to talk to the senators and congressmen, and she got a rude,

rude arrival there in the form of very aggressive questions and statements by the republicans. first she laid out her case. let's listen. >> for me this is not just a matter of policy, it's personal. i stood next to president obama as the marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at andrews. i put my arms around the fathers and mothers, the sisters and bow brothers and the wives left alone to raise their children. >> cenk: the republicans were not appeased with that, and they requested about benghazi what produced one of the biggest flareups of the day. >> he were misled that there was protest and an assault sprang out that have. that was easily ascertained. that was not the fact. the american people could have known that in days. >> with all due respect. the fact is we had four dead

americans was it because of protest or guys out for a walk and they decided to kill americans. what difference at this point does it make. it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent from happening again, senator. >> the republicans saw that and said, so what, i'm going to keep going. here is senator rand paul. >> one of the things that disappointed me most about the original 9/11 no one was fired. there were human errors. these are judgment errors. people should be fired and no longer in place to make these judgment calls. i'm glad you're taking responsibility. i think with your leaving you accept your culpability of the tragedy since 9/11. if i had been president i would have relieved you from your

post. >> cenk: okay, senator rand paul, when your president you can act that way. these guys are like, oh, yeah, boy, after 9/11 people to task. which people took the bush administration to task after 9/11. what happened to the guy who didn't read the memos. that guy's name was george w. bush. there is a lot of hypocrisy going on in washington, which i'm sure you're not surprised by it. michael hastings is not only writing for rolling stone and buzzfeed but author of the "sublime and inside story of obama's final campaign." he's also a correspondent here at "the young turks." of course, lindsay moran former clandestine officer for the i c.i.a. great to have you here. let me start with you michael

were you surprised at the severity of the republicans response to clinton? >> no. they decided this was going to be an issue that they were going to ride as far as they could. they already got one scalp with susan rice preventing her from becoming secretary of state and including trying to tarnish secretary clinton's image. that first question that secretary clinton we just heard who was asked by the senator that was off base. clinton is right. whether it was a spontaneous demonstration or a planned attack or some sort of combination of both, which is from my understands that that is the case, it's fairly irrelevant. that's the wrong question. rand paul has a qualified question. you have this post in libya and they're asking for more security at the rebel h.q. outpost.

someone should be have been reading the cables. and whenever you have a situation where these guys are obsessing over these questions and most people don't really care secretary clinton does haven't good job handling this. she does quite well. >> cenk: how much security is there normally at an embassy, a consulate. are they really well secured and this was the only one that was secured? i don't know the proper context and that's why i think it's very important for you to tell us. >> they should be very well secured. and the security situation in libya is deplorable that they didn't have adequate security there. back when i was serving in the balkans in the late 90s all of our embassyies and installations we had marines all over the place, tons of security. we all got danger pay.

that was a much less hostile situation although it was an unstable situation, nothing compared to libya and not the same kind of anti-american rancor on the ground. it should have been much more secure. i think it's deplorable and the survivors of the victims and the american public deserve an explanation how that turned into a security debacle and frankly our embassyies require better security, but that costs money though. it will be curious to ask the republicans to put the money up for that. >> cenk: we know the answer. they cut that particular budget. the answer is no. they're not willing to pay for the security but if something goes wrong they're willing to blame somebody else. that all shocks everybody. who dropped the ball. it goes to the substance of what we're discussing here.

michael, what do you think went wrong here? who should have acted and didn't? >> well, the testimony i would have wanted to see is general david petraeus head of the c.i.a. as we know there are over 20 c.i.a. officers and security personnel in benghazi. so my question is what was the involvement there and how much were the statement department's hand tied, and what is the white house's response to the tragedy how was their hand tied because there was this very secret presence. the g.o.p. senators are accusing of lying and cover up. the truth is we have a secret presence there that we wanted to keep secret, and it wasn't because of this operation. i think someone in the state department who didn't respond should be taken to task. >> cenk: what in the world was going on there? lindsay, let me start with you. why was there such a heavy

c.i.a. presence there? what were they doing there, do you have a better sense of it? >> well, there should be a big c.i.a. presence in a place like libya. i think the larger and more important question, though, is all the blame is sort of being laid at the feet of the state department when the c.i.a. is the entity, they are the ones who are supposed to know the security situation on the ground. they are the ones who are supposed to predict something like this happening. you know, i take susan rice at her word that she was working with the best available information given to her by the intelligence community. the c.i.a. notwithstanding recent successes in taking out osama bin laden and alqaida leadership, let's not forget this is the same organization that failed to predict the delusion ofdissolution of the soviet union and failed to predict that half

of mali would fall to islamists. we take for granted that the agency has sources on the ground and had adequate information there, but it appears that they didn't. >> cenk: but there was something else going on at that consolate. michael, do you know what it was? what was the c.i.a. doing there? >> i think there are two things. they were over looking the different militia groups that we supported in the intervention with libya. there was something that paula broadwell, general petraeus' friend, she said there was a secret prison run there. that was denied. i heard reports that they were involved in arming different groups and doing a little gun running there. there is a lot that could have been going on that probably was going on. and in terms of the question of this whether it was a riot or spontaneous event i did extensive reporting on this. what happened, when the c.i.a.

chief stationed in tripoli wrote a cable back literally the night after the attack saying this was a pre-planned attack. he was overruled by the ic or intelligence community within washington. that was a gentleman who overruled him john brennan, in fact, is the one who came up with the recommendation that it wasn't a spontaneous attack. >> cenk: let's fire john brennan. agreed, deal. by the way where is john brennan going? head of the c.i.a. why isn't he in front of them? he's the one who apparently made it political based on that reporting. >> and it might not have been political. you know, brennan is dealing with, you know, there are 16,000 or 17,000 agencies. they're seeing other feeds. you know, i think blaming secretary clinton for that was very strange. literally, rice was just going off the talking points she was given.

there was no cover up or intent to deceive. >> cenk: one last thing. i want to talk about the politics of this for a second. congressman duncan from south carolina. this is what he said. >> you let the consulate become a deathtrap. you said you would take responsibility. what does responsibility mean, madam secretary. you're still in your job. and there are four people that have culpability in this, and they still have their jobs. at what point in time can our administration and our government fire someone whose gross actions left four people deeddead in benghazi. >> cenk: i believe this is called grandstanding and politics too. that's what is happening. quick, guys, who is damaged more by this, hillary clinton or the republicans. >> i think clinton escapes, and putting off this testimony to after the election.

she's on her way out. she was able to get a lot of love from the democrats there. she's off and it will be brought up again and again and again by the right that's for sure. >> cenk: lindsay, quick thought? >> well, you know it is playing politics with this tragedy and i mean, i think hillary clinton gave great testimony today and defended her position. in her defense i mean, george tenant who was at the helm at the worst intelligence failure of our time and then led us into iraq with faulty intelligence. he never had this kind of grilling. he got a presidential medal of freedom in 2004. >> cenk: i remember when the republicans were outraged about that. no, i don't because that never happened. lindsay moran and michael hastings, you guys are great. thank you for joining us. >> thanks. >> thanks. >> cenk: when we come back i love this story. this is about how wall street got away with the biggest crime

and there is great evidence of it. martin smith from front line joins us next. >> it was probably a game among the people in the mortgage business to say, let's come up with one of the worst loans we could possibly imagine and see if wall street will buy it. (vo) it's a vanguard world premiere event. >>it doesn't get anymore real than this. (vo) current's award winning original series is back with an all new episode straight from the headlines. (vo) in the minefield of the nation's gun control debate, this could be the most polarizing issue. >> anybody can claim stand your ground and they could get away with murder.

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you're telling me. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me. >> absolutely! >> and so would mitt romeny. >> she's joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: back on "the young turks." how many times have we told you on this show how wall street got away with their crime, it was clear fraud. there is a documentary called "the undutchibles" untouchables," referring to wall street. >> at the heart of the financial crisis. >> more than four years later. >> no one going to jail. no one being held accountable. >> this is totally about what went on at wall street. >> why no wall street executives went to jail. >> justice backed off. >> did government fail.

>> the number of people told us you didn't make this a top priority. >> i'm sorry if they think that because i made it an incredibly top priority. >> you're telling me not one executive on wall street committed proveable fraud. i just don't believe that. >> cenk: i can't wait. it's going to premiere on tuesday, by the way. so some stats on the financial meltdown. we lost 8.8 million jobs. $700 billion bailout went to the banks. and zero wall street executives charged. cases dropped against goldman sachs, aig, lehman brothers country wide financial. why might that be? goldman sachs wound up giving $1 million to president obama's obama's 2008 election campaign and goldman sachs is also a client of covington and burling

that happens to be the firm that attorney general eric holder worked for. what a coincidence. and is there a law that says this is illegal. yes, there are many, but let me give you sarbanes oxley act. a quote here so you're lear on it. chief executive office and chief financial offices certify under oath that their financial statements arestatementsstatement accurate and they assure that all relative and knowingly may be sent to prison. and no one went to prison. let's jump right into it. what are the possible reasons why no one saw prosecution here? >> the word that we get number one, let's accept that these

transactions the sale of market-back securities to investors, these were very well lawyered transactions. these are not easy prosecutions by any stretch yet there have been no attempts at prosecution. that raises the question of whether, indeed, it is impossible to find fraud in these things. that doesn't seem to be the case either. there has been a whole slew of private civil lawsuits filed and recently the government in the new york attorney general u.s. attorney in manhattan have come forward with civil cases. as you and i know, fraud is fraud. the only difference between a civil case and a criminal case is you have a higher burden of proof in a criminal case. but it doesn't make a lot of sense to have in the s & l

crisis that you would have 1,000 indictmented and 300 executives doing jail time, and not one in the much larger crisis of 2008 facing no criminal charges. >> cenk: you know, let me have you fill in the folks at home with the numbers you talked about. fcc charges on civil cases were 150 people and constitutions institutions were fined and there were $2.68 billion in penalties. how could there be $2.68 billion in penalties and no one did anything criminal if it were fraud. >> the key word that you used was "knowingly" and what the justice department claims that to prove that they knew what they were doing is very difficult which lead you to have to assume that they didn't know what they were doing and

there's nothing wrong there. but these were not-- >> cenk: wait a minute. let me ask you, if you had a conversation with them about these specific things. from the countrywide case they have e-mails that say these are toxic terrible, i can't believe we're selling it. you have goldman sachs talking about how it's a piece of crap, basically, the stuff that they're selling. we just got a morgan stanley story in "the new york times" today, and let me quote you some of the things that they called the stuff they were selling subprime melt down, mike tyson knockout. they knew--they knew. how can the justice department possibly say oh, golly gee the bangers didn't know at all? >> here's the deal, there is nothing illegal about me selling you a bunch of crap. the crime is if i know that that

stuff is crap, and i misrepresent it and warranty it as good. the banks certainly knew, and you're quoting the right stuff here. the morgan stanley story that broke today is evidence of this, that they knew the stuff was no good. but you have to then dig into the contracts and find out what they were representing the stuff to be. there were people out there willing to buy crap. on the other hand there were others who were being misled. there's a lot of talk of dumb money, muppets they're good suckers. some of these entities, whether they're pension funds hedge funds--new jerseyly not hedge funds. they're in a sophisticated category, but others, insurance companies, are coming forward and saying they were clearly defrauded. >> cenk: right that's the critical part of it, right?

when they dig in with their civil lawsuit they unearth more stuff as we found out today in the morgan stanley case. why didn't the government dig in? and let me pause at a theory for you and get your reaction to it. one, these guys give a tremendous amount of money to politicians. dick durban said frankly they own the place and he's the second more senior senator for the democrats in the senate. and they're all in the same circle. attorney general eric holder doesn't think waaaa i'm going to do deals that's my friend bob. i just represented him the other day. i'm not going to put bob in jail. >> there are a lot of political appointees. here eric holder and then lanny brewer chief of the criminal division of justice the man who sits at the crux of all this. there are a lot of justice

attorneys who would love nothing more than to bring down a major banger, a major wall street player put a notch on their belt. that's a counter veiling to reality. you say without support from above it's hard for them to act and i think that's very likely true. on the other hand i think what we learn from talking to sources inside justice and talking to lanny brewer, there was a a cautious approach taken, a fear of losing. they did lose one case back in in 2009 that had been started of two bear stern hedge fund, they felt they were scapegoated come back when you have bigger fish to fry. there was speculation that that made the justice department gun shy. i asked lanny brewer in the

documentary about a speech he made before the new york city bar association which he says he loses sleep at night because of the conferences of indicting a major bank. that is a clue that political pressures comes to bear or his fear of economic consequences of taking down a big bank. >> cenk: bingo. >> hour,however, that should not prevent them from going after individuals and going after bad behavior. >> the lanny brewers, they made a decision. these bankers are too big to jail. they get an immuneity card, and they can do whatever they want, and they've totally been part of defrauding the american people. that's a crime. and you know, we find out that lanny brewer might be stepping down. thank god about time. he should have been fired a long time ago but the problem is his boss and his boss' boss. holder and obama are in on it. they got paid a tremendous harassment of money whether its

campaign contributions or actual money that holder got at that firm to do this to the american people. and it is sick. the bush people did it and the obama people did it. you want to know the facts watch martin's documentary. you know my thoughts. thank you for coming. >> thank you. >> cenk: news just broke recently. is there going to be better treatment of gays in the military. do you remember the guy who got booed, the service man who got booed during the republican debate? he's here to talk about it. how gays are being treated today in the military. >> my question is do you intend to circumvent the gayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayayay very, very excited about that and very proud of that. >>beltway politics from inside the loop. >>we tackle the big issues here in our nation's capital, around

the country and around the globe. >>dc columnist and four time emmy winner bill press opens current's morning news block. >>we'll do our best to carry the flag from 6 to 9 every morning. >>liberal and proud of it.

m0 >> cenk: now great news today for progressives. leon panetta said that women will now be able to serve in combat positions in front line situations. so the military is going to review that on how they're going to implement it over the years but it is now set to take place. now, meanwhile, of course, obama administration had repealed don't ask/don't tell, so that's no longer in force but the defense and marriage act prohibited federal employees from getting the same treatment as federal gay employees getting the same treatment as federal

straight employees. that's a complicating situation. do you remember the guy who asked the question about this at the republican debates. if you don't let me show you this again. >> stir up a whole lot of controversy online and it comes from stephen hill, a soldier serving in iraq. >> in 2010 when i was deployed to iraq i had to lie about who i was because i'm a gay soldier. i didn't want to lose my job. my question is under one of your presidencies do you intend to circumvent the gay and lesbian soldier in the military. >> cenk: he joins us now. stephen snyder hill and joshua snyder hill. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having us on. >> cenk: absolutely. steve, you're in the army reserve for 18 years. served in operation desert shield i believe. has treatment in the military gotten better, and what is

lacking today? >> treatment in the military--in the military, a professional organization. when they repealed don't ask/don't tell it was flawless. everything was very good with the way i was treated. today i'm treated just like any other soldier. it's been very very good. >> cenk: that's great to hear. what do you think that they need to work on? what is the next step that needs to be taken? >> well, you know, thinking about it, the late 50s they stopped segregation in the army for african-americans. the late 60s interracial marriage was allowed. it was unconstitutional to make it illegal. here we are half a century forward, and josh and i's marriage is not recognized. i think just following the natural progression of civil rights is what we're asking for. we want to serve in the military and we want our marriage to be

legal and recognized. that's all we're basically asking. >> cenk: you got married in 2010 in washington, d.c. where you could get married but yet you have the situation why the defense of marriage act which creates significant problems in the military. josh how has it affected you? what are things that you don't get as a husband that other husbands in the military would get. >> i think what was most impactful was when steve was serving in iraq. it's difficult for anybody over in iraq. it's difficult for the spout. that's while don't ask/don't tell was still--it had not been repealed yet. reaching out trying to find help to deal with it, it just wasn't something that i could do. then even when stephen returned, don't ask don't tem was repealed, and we were invited to a yellow ribbon, which was amazing, but the counseling and opportunities to get through it as a married couple was not afforded to us because our

children was not recognized. it's a dangling carrot. they tell you about all the great resources to use as a couple but it's not afforded to us right now. >> cenk: one last question for you, whether it's outgoing secretary leon panetta who took a bold action today with women serving on the front line or it's hagel that comes in as defense secretary. what would you like him to do? >> i think we would like the same treatment as our other service member counterparts. when we're deployed it's just as rough to take care of each other. we have to take care of the house, the bills and the dogs and our lives and the family, it's just as difficult. it was just as hard for us to say goodbye under neath the set of escalateors. we were crying. we couldn't do it in front of other people. we're asking to be treated the same. that's all we want. >> cenk: thank you for joining us. >> thank you.

>> cenk: we'll turn to another guest, allison robinson. thank you for joining us on "the young turks." >> great to be here, cenk, how are you? >> cenk: great, thank you. let me ask you the same question that i just asked steve and joshua. what is the next step that can help service members who were gay. >> whether it's from secretary panetta or secretary hagel. they have been sitting on this for two years where they've examined extending a a series of benefits that would significantly improve the lives of soldiers, sailers marines coast guardsmen like these and and they're just sitting on them. we need leadership and we need it now. >> cenk: there has been criticism of chuck hagel for being anti-gay because he called

an ambassador openly and aggressively gay. i still don't know what that means. but now there is an ad against hagel. that's video c-14, guys. let's roll that. >> hagel is anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-israel anti-gay, and pro assault weapon. that's just not what we voted for in november. >> cenk: of course, that's not a liberal group running that. that's a neo-conservative group that hates the position because it's not aggressively militaristic enough. does hagel have a problem on this issue or no? >> well, you know, it goes beyond statements that the senator has made. he had a voting record in the senate that was clearly anti-gay. now, he's apologized for those statements, and he has made commitments publicly to support gay service men and women and

their families. action speaks louder than apologies. we need to see a commitment from him and a plan to act. we're going to be looking at these confirmation hearings to hear what that plan is. >> cenk: are you worried conservative groups are trying to use gay groups to suit their own agenda when it has nothing--they don't really care about the issue. >> well, sure, that's politics, cenk. that's what happens in this town. here's the deal, though, the guy is a former non-commissioned officer. he's combat tested. he would be the first former nco to serve in the position. he's clearly qualified. if he's evolved that's terrific. we just need to hear the details from him. >> cenk: he did apologize for making those comments, and he is in favor of don't ask/don't tell. thank you for joining us. i appreciate it. >> it's a pleasure. thank you. >> cenk: now when we come back, the republicans caved in on the debt ceiling. how in the world did that happen and why are the

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>> cenk: shocking moment on capitol hill when the republicans caved in rather than the democrats. they said they were going to fight president obama on the debt ceiling. they voted 285-144 to say they will not fight. now there are other provisions in there that we will talk about as well, but that's the main heart of it. they moved that to may 18th. don't think they're not going to fight over the budget. they are. there are two others opportunities for it. the sequester comes in march 1st. they'll make a huge sting out that have and then the budget is on april 15th. there will be two more fights before we get back from the debt

ceiling. why did they do this? i'll bring in a couple of guests to sort that out. first of all grace she wrote a very good piece about that today. and our own political correspondent michael shure and he joins us here. grace, i have a theory, and i'm going to read a quote from chris chocola. he said, the club for growth will not oppose tomorrow's vote on the debt ceiling. the club for growth will, on the other hand, strongly oppose any efforts during the upcoming debate over the continuing resolution and sequester that fail to arrest out-of-control spending and put sensible limits on the growth of government. let me put me read on that, it's too hard. first of all am i reading that right. >> i think you are reading that right. the republicans realize that they're at a disadvantage.

their message has not been working, and they're more likely to get the spending cuts that they want in a budget fight than a long-protracted fight over the debt ceiling. >> cenk: i'm going to be controversial. i don't think so, and i'll tell you why and michael and grace you can speak to this. i think what it is that their bosses in corporate america said no debt cereal ceiling is sacrosanct. you mess with payments to soldiers any time you like but you're not going to mess with our bonds, what do you think about that, grace. >> that's a little conspiracial for my test, but they said, we can't default. don't hold the economy hostage any more. cut spending where you want to

cut spending but don't use the debt limit to do it. they realize there is no political appetite in the business world in the regular world, and in the political world to hold the economy hostage in the way that they did in 2011. >> michael, tell me how in the world they gain leverage by having the fight over the budget or the sequester instead? i don't see it. >> there is something that nobody is talking about here, which is the political leverage that boehner wants right now. i think boehner needs to reassess. i think this is a retreat. give it to the senate for a while. let's get our troops back together and figure out what is going on here and then move forward again. i do agree with some the people who say this is a surrender because i think it's a political surrender for a moment. there is always strategy within the republican party. i don't think this is the kind of situation that will just go away. it is always kicking the can down, but i think there is a political play here. >> cenk: i don't see it at all.

you let me explain. people use it as an excuse. you think the house republicans are going to get any more popular between now and march march 1st? >> that's not what i'm saying. they're going to give it to the senate. let the senate come up with their budget. we're exacerbated. yes, i have a fractureed caucus in the house. i have to work on my caucus and then get stronger. it doesn't matter if its kicked down the road a bit because we have to come back in the party. it's purely political. >> cenk: the republicans realize they're being obstinate. they're going to be obstinate on march 1st, on april 15th. when you look at the difference of those three dates the debt ceiling involves a great amount of money interested. i don't think that's conspiracy

toreconspiracytoreal. would they have a say in those matters? i think so. >> i would agree that they're kicking it over to the senate. as we've seen in the last budget debates that we've had the senate is really the only body that can do anything or get anything done. that's where the compromise will happen. we'll see--the house will come up with their paul ryan budget on steroids that they're planning right now and the senate will have to find compromise or common ground that the white house can agree to as well, and then we'll be back where we were at the end of 2011. i think the republicans definitely do--are taking a moment to regroup so they can fight that battle, and it will be a similar battle to the ones we've seen before. >> cenk: grace wyler, michael shure, we appreciate it. mark my words, they will shut the government down. they will do whatever they need to do. they will be as obstinate as

humanly possible. they will sacrifice everything, the republicans will. the only thing they will not sacrifice are the bondholders who are their bosses. all right when we come back, a gun buy back in los angeles actually brought in rpgs rocket propelled grenades. is it a smart idea to do that or not? we'll talk to the guy running the program when we return. >> shotguns, pistols and even assault rifles, some rusted, some brand new. la county sheriff deputy stacked them. the weapons will be catatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatat and good luck. ♪ uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts.

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>> cenk: you know, we try to bring attention to people who die not just in big massacres but every day in this country. since newtown there is a new tally, 1169 people have been

killed by guns. since newtown. that's an amazing number. now the person who apparently is not affected by this is wayne lapierre who gave a speech tuesday night in reno and said this. >> he wants to put every private personal firearms transaction right under the thumb of the federal government. and he wants to keep all of those names in a massive federal registry. there are only two reasons for a federal list on gun owners to either tax them or take them. >> cenk: that is simply not true. the real reason for it is to make sure that felons and people who are mentally ill don't get those weapons. the nra don't care about that. they care about the gun manufacturers and how much they'll make off of selling weapons to felons and mentally ill people. there are people fighting back in different ways. here in l.a. there was an interesting idea to do gun

buy-backs. >> shotguns, pistols and even assault rifles. some rusted, some brand new. la county sheriff deputy stacked them into baskets. they will be cataloged and destroyed. the former owners are given a gift card. >> cenk: there are two rounds of buy backs. in december there was 2037 firearms brought in including two rocket launchers. in january another 386 firearms were brought in. let me bring you to the mark ridley thomas, chairman of the los angeles county board of supervisors. do you think this was a success. >> i do believe it was a success, and every step we can take to get the guns off the streets of los angeles county the better we will be and the

safer those communities will be. too many guns often lead to the data you have just disclosed. >> now the critics will say listen, the bad guys are not going to turn in their guns. the good guys who have spare guns will do it for the money. >> we'll take those. we'll take those guns. what happens when those homes are burglarized, they end up being the weapons that are used in all sorts of crimes. and so the less guns, the better. the safer all of us will be. >> cenk: that's interesting. one more criticism of the program is, hey listen, you're guaranteeing a price for these guns. that helps the gun manufacturers because they think buy my gun. in a worst-case scenario even if it falls apart l.a. or some other city will buy it back in a gun buy back. >> that's a silly criticism. the only thing we're doing is incentivizing people to come and relinquish their weapons.

i can tell you the first hour i was there it was amazing what i saw. every minute two guns were being relinquished shotguns, assault rifles handguns. it was absolutely astonishing to see the kinds of weapons that were being afforded the los angeles county sheriff department from young people, from older people, from african-americans, from asian pacific islanders whites, latinos. everybody was there. it was effectively the rainbow coalition saying in honor of martin luther king jr.'s birthday we're going to give these guns back. >> cenk: the reason why i like it i think so many times those guns fire accidently. on gun appreciation day we had five people shot in three different shootings accidently. >> right. >> cenk: because they couldn't properly handle their weapon. but i'm curious about one funny thing. what did you do with the rocket

launchers? did you also destroy those or say, let's keep those for the sheriff department. >> we ran the hell away from those things because we didn't know if it had a mind of its own. can you imagine confiscateing or surrendering a rocket launcher. >> cenk: who did that, and tell me that you tracked them. i know you're not allowed to. >> it was quite tempting, but the rules of the game happen to be no questions asked. just turn your weapons in. we will give you the proper amount of money that we agreed to pay and that's the end of it it. >> cenk: mark rididyyhohos. th k thu foryoeifoein n hehe young [ male announcer ] the exclusive air suspension in the 2013 ram 1500. ♪ ♪ engineered to move heaven and earth.

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